When I bought Vyvyan, four years ago as of this writing, I found that the bonnet catch cable was loose, under the steering wheel. The bracket had been detached and was being used as a handle to pull the catch open. This was clearly due to the loss of the original handle. I have no issues with this, but was forever having to pull harder to get under the hood. This meant, I would either need to replace the whole cable system, or get creative. I chose the latter!
Using the old unit, I reattached the bracket to the van’s inner-skin, then set about making a new handle. In the process, the casing, for which is wrapped around the metal cable, snapped away, but this didn’t mean that it was lost. I designed a simple handle that would slip over the square peg, and adjust it with the sander so that a small machine screw and washer could keep it in place. It turned out great, all be it slightly oval! The first attempt was tiny, so I restarted it and let the printer get to work.
The end result was better than I had thought. It sat over the peg and was reset on the bracket. I chose to sit it upwards so that I could simply grip and twist it forward to release the bonnet. All in all, fabulous stuff! You can get the 3D model from here.
